Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Victoria’s heels echoed across the marble floor, her steps calm despite the chaos that hummed beneath the surface. Nico leaned against the balcony rail, a tumbler of whiskey in hand, staring down at the massive ballroom below. The space had been reworked overnight, transformed from some abandoned estate hall into the kind of luxury setting that whispered secrets and promised sins.
It was all smoke and show. Just the way Victoria liked it.
“I trust everything’s in place,” she said, reaching his side.
Nico didn’t look at her. “The guest list’s solid. The word’s out.”
“And Dominic?”
He sipped, jaw tightening. “He’ll come. You dragged Her name through the mud just enough to make sure of that.”
Victoria smiled faintly, brushing imaginary dust from her lapel. “I didn’t drag her name. I elevated it. Gave it enough scandal to light a fuse under his pride.”
She turned toward the stairs leading down to the main floor. The room was already being dressed–dark velvet curtains, discreet security, sleek art pieces masking hidden weapons. It wasn’t just an auction. It was bait. A web wrapped in elegance.
“Remind me how this is supposed to work again?” Nico asked, his tone sharp.
Victoria clasped her hands behind her back, voice measured. “The files Dominic stole… the ones he got from Eliza and my vault–they’re incomplete. What he doesn’t know is that I let him have them.”
Nico raised a brow. “You gave him your leverage?”
“I gave him what I wanted him to see.” She tilted her head. “He thinks he’s two steps ahead. That’s when men like him get careless.”
“And Aria?” he asked, after a beat.
Victoria’s smirk returned. “That girl’s name is the only thing that can make Dominic bleed. We leak news that she’ll be showcased naked. Every man in the underworld want to see her again. I mean he did do it once. She danced for them. Showed her pussy. Of course they want to have a taste. I promised them That she’s connected to the final item on sale. He’ll come. Maybe not alone. Maybe not in his usual self. But he’ll come.”
Nico frowned. “He’s not dumb, Vic. You think he’ll believe she’s really for sale?”
Victoria turned slowly. “It doesn’t matter if he believes it. All that matters is that he can’t afford not to come. That flicker of doubt? It’ll eat at him. That’s
what we want. That hesitation.“.
Nico crossed his arms. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
She stepped closer. “Aren’t we all?”
He studied her. The woman in front of him wasn’t the same Victoria from months ago. That woman used charm like a scalpel and manipulation like a
second skin. This one? She was colder. Sharper. Hollowed out by loss–and revenge.
“You’re not doing this for the power,” he said, low. You’re doing it because you think hurting him makes you feel less… disposable.”
Victoria paused for a heartbeat. “Does it matter why, as long as it works?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked down at the growing setup–the stage being rigged, the artifact cases being wheeled in, each one locked tight with fabricated but believable histories. Their true prize wasn’t the art. It was the man they were trying to draw in.
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Chapter 163
Victoria glanced over her shoulder at the team arranging seats. “You have the broadcast ready?”
“Yes. Private channel. Just for Dominic.”
She smiled. “Perfect. He’ll think he’s intercepting it. We’ll make it look like an exclusive backdoor stream–footage of Aría, security timestamps, auction tags. We don’t even need her there. We just need him to think she is.”
“He won’t fall for it twice,” Nico warned.
“Then let’s make it more believable,” she said.
She handed him a folder, slim and neat.
Nico flipped through it. Inside were stills of Aria, taken from weeks ago. From the hospital. From the estate. Zoomed in. Timed. Marked.
“These are real,” he muttered.
Victoria shrugged. “And?”
“You’ve been watching her this whole time?”
She didn’t blink. “Dominic wasn’t the only one tightening security.”
He exhaled, closing the file. “And when he gets here?”
“That’s when you pull the trigger,” she said.
Nico stiffened slightly. “On him?”
“No,” she said softly. “On the reputation. The empire. We take everything he built. Burn it down. Piece by piece. What’s left of his legacy will be tied to scandal and obsession.”
He stared at her. “You could’ve killed him. Why this?”
Victoria’s expression turned grim. “Because death is mercy. And I don’t want mercy for Dominic. He is a bastard.”
Nico didn’t say anything for a long moment. Just turned to look at the ballroom again, his jaw tight, heart pounding against his ribs.
This was it. There was no going back.
One false step and Dominic wouldn’t stop until he buried both of them. Victoria touched his arm. “I know you’re worried. But we’re not those people anymore. We’re not under his shadow. We’re the ones casting it now.”
His voice was rough. “Then we better not miss.”
Victoria’s gaze glittered.
“We won’t.”
They stood in silence for a while, watching the final touches being made. The room was almost ready. The whispers had already started.
And once the signal was sent, once the auction stream reached Dominic, he would come running–angry, desperate, and ready to burn.
But that was exactly what they wanted.
Victoria turned to Nico one last time, her voice cold and clear.
“The bait is set,”
2/4
Chapter 163
Dominic’s POV
The imessage came in coded.
Your queen’s about to be pawned.”
Luca never spoke lightly, especially not with phrasing like that. I read it twice, then once more, feeling my blood simmer as the full meaning set in. The auction. The stream. Aria’s name attached to it. Victoria was pulling every dirty string she could find.
frowned, standing from my desk, my pulse tight in my throat.
“She’s not even involved,” I muttered to no one. “She’s not supposed to be involved.”
But Victoria didn’t need her there. All she needed was the illusion. And illusions were dangerous when fed to desperate men.
I called Luca. “Details. Now.”
“The auction is tonight,” he said. “Same estate you and Victoria danced around years ago. Word is, Aria’s part of the final lot.”
“She’s with my security team.”
“I don’t think that matters anymore. You’re already playing the game they built.”
I ended the call, rage thrumming through every limb. They wanted to lure me in. Fine. Let them.
But I’d burn everything down before I let Aria’s name be dragged through another show.
I called for my men. Laid the plan. Fast, silent, brutal.
Infiltration. Not negotiation.
No mercy.
No hesitation.
I changed into tactical black. Strapped my knife to my ribs, holstered two pistols, and said nothing as the car pulled out from the estate and tore toward the coordinates. The roads blurred, and all I could see was her–Aria–smiling that shy, sarcastic smile, sitting on my lap that morning like nothing in the
world could touch us.
Goddamn them for touching her.
We parked three blocks away. Slipped into shadows.
The estate was lit like a crime scene dressed in luxury. Velvet drapes, lanterns glowing like temptation, men in suits and masks with eyes too curious.
Fake elegance masking rot.
We breached through the garden–quiet takedowns, guards silenced and stashed. Luca led on surveillance. I pushed forward, clearing each hallway until
we reached the main floor.
I heard the auctioneer’s voice echo through the ballroom. Laughs. Gasps. Clinks of champagne. And then her name.
“Aria. A rare beauty with a scandalous past…”
My knuckles cracked against the wall.
“They’ll pay in blood,” I growled under my breath.
3/4
Chapter 163
We reached the service corridor. And that’s when the floor creaked behind me.
Gun raised, I turned–but the figure was already moving. Fast. Too fast.
The flashbang dropped at my feet.
Boom.
Light. Heat. Screams.
Everything exploded into chaos.
I stumbled back, ears ringing, vision dancing. Shots fired. People panicked. My men scrambled.
And when I opened my eyes-
Aria was there.
Frozen.
But not alone.
Nico stood behind her, arm around her neck, pistol pressed against her temple.
My heart stopped.
“Nico,” I said low, stepping forward.
“Easy now,” he mocked, pressing the muzzle harder. “I’d hate to mess up that pretty face.”
Her eyes met mine. Wide. Scared. But not broken.
I held his gaze. “This is low. Even for you.”
He smiled, teeth bared. “Says the man who ruined me.”
“You ruined yourself.”
He chuckled. “Maybe. But you pulled the trigger.”
I stepped closer. “Let her go.”
He tilted his head. “You’re not in charge anymore, Dominic. You think you can just keep winning, keep burying people? You forget–I watched you build everything. I know where it all cracks.”
My fingers itched near the trigger. “Then say what you want to say.”
He did.
“Mal
1
mpire.”
AD
